OTTAWA – The Liberals have had plenty of things to say about their dental care plan, but government advertising rules they imposed in 2016 have ruled they can’t call it “accessible, affordable, or essential.”
On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted an advertisement, featuring an elderly man getting only modest relief from a frozen bag of peas on his face, while his daughter tells him to go to the dentist.
When the elderly man responds “You know, I don’t have coverage,” his daughter slides a phone over with the government’s application page for the new dental care program.
But the ad campaign that included Trudeau’s video underwent some changes before it could be released. The government was told to add the phrase “seniors with a family income under $90,000″ and to remove a proposed tagline: “Accessible. Affordable. Essential.”
In 2016, the government brought in new standards that subject all government advertising with a budget over $250,000 to an outside review from Advertising Standards Canada, a non-profit body that regulates the advertising industry.
The new rules were promised in the 2015 Liberal platform after the Liberals accused the Harper Conservatives of blurring the line between government advertising and partisan messaging.
“The federal government should use advertising to promote government programs, not partisan agendas,” read the Liberal platform.
The rules prevent the use of any government politician or senator from appearing in ads paid by taxpayers and even include rules about using party colours in government advertisements. The government also posts information on what was removed or added from ads after Advertising Standards reviews them. In the case of the dental care advertisements
The dental care plan was not previously a Liberal priority, but they agreed to implement it as part of the confidence and supply agreement with the NDP. Currently, it is open to seniors, children under 18 and people who qualify for the disability tax credit, provided their annual income is below $90,000.
It is set to expand to more groups in 2025 and the government estimates at is peak it will apply to nine million Canadians.
Health Minister Mark Holland held an event Wednesday announcing the program had now offered care to 450,000 people with over two million people having signed up. He said the program had also now recruited 75 per cent of dental care providers, including hygienists and dentists to take part.
“This is the largest federal program ever launched in three months, 450,000 people have had care. To put that in stark terms, that’s 450,000 people who did not have access to care before,” he said.
His office did not comment on the advertising changes, saying only that they would continue to follow the new advertising rules.
“Health Canada works regularly with Ad Standards Canada to undergo an external review of all our advertising campaigns and will continue to do so.”
The dental care program covers most, but not all of the costs of dental care and some patients have found they have to cover part of the cost of a procedure. Holland said the program puts dental care in reach for Canadians who couldn’t otherwise afford it, but it is not designed to cover every cost.
“There are folks getting care all across the country that’s deeply affordable, but it’s not always free.” he said.
Holland said the difference is often between the plan’s standard payments and what local providers charge. He said it does make something like root canals or other complicated procedures within reach.
He said a full-preauthorization plan, allowing dentists to request coverage of work not explicitly covered under the plan, will be in place later this year.
National Post
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